Fifteen
by Ladylotsoflove
Summary: Clare returns home from bible camp after the summer is near over to find that things are NOT the way that she left them. Can a new mysterious guy help her get over the loss of Eli?  I suck at summaries. Please read. Rating might be changed to M.


**Hey, guys. This is my very first piece of work I've submitted on here. I'm not great, but I'm improving bit by bit so just bear with me for now. Lately I've become a bit of a Taylor Swift fan and this story has each chapter somewhat fitting a few over her songs. NONE OF WHICH I OWN! So give me a chance and maybe you'll be pleased with what you read.**

_Now I'm standing alone in a crowded room_

_And we're not speaking_

_And I'm dying to know, is it killing you_

_Like it's killing me_

I gulped and turned down the car stereo that my mom was currently rocking out to. "What's wrong honey? I though you loved Taylor Swift."

I shrugged. The song hit too close to home with the whole awkward post-break-up state Eli and I were presently in. I checked my phone for the umpteenth time today. The black letters in my inbox read 'No Messages' around the bluish glare.

I changed it to the local rock station.

_Cut my life into pieces_

_This is my last resort_

_Suffocation, no breathing_

_Don't give a -_

_If I cut my arm bleeding_

_This is my last resort_

"Clare, I didn't know you listened to _this_ kind of music now." She said with her 'Superior' voice. I shrugged again while twirling an auburn curl around my finger. This time it was my mother who changed the station. "Just because you and _that boy_" (She still refused to acknowledge that he has a name.) "didn't work out doesn't mean you need to be all moody."

I gave her a dirty look. I've seen moody kids before. I am not moody. Not even a little bit. If she wants moody, I'll give her moody.

"Since you never answered my letters I sent you while you were at bible camp this summer, I had no way of warning you, things at home a different now, _very_ different. A lot has changed." I gave her a questioning look. "Your father is gone. When the divorce was finalized, without warning, he sold the condo and moved to Yellowknife to live with some floozy twenty something he met online."

"Why didn't you tell m-"

"Don't interrupt me. I wasn't finished." She cut me off with a bored expression. "My old friend from high school is back in town and had no where to stay other than some rat-infested motel. So he and his son our staying with us for now. Rob is staying in the basement guestroom."

"Son?" I managed to process after the information-overload.

"Yes, Rob has a son named Jake. Who I believe, is in your grade but a year older than you." She nodded to herself. "He has called 'dibs' on the pullout couch in the living room. So don't prance around naked or anything." She glanced at me.

"When have I ever-"

"Jake will be starting school at Degrassi with you in a few weeks and I would be very pleased if you took care of him and showed him around town." This was starting to be too much. In two months, my dad leaves, and some man and boy move in who my mother expects me to make friends with and take care of? This is too messed up.

We sat in silence the rest of the fifteen minutes it took to get home. I constantly checked my phone for any sign of _him_ trying to contact me. But I came up short. 'No calls.' 'No messages.'

As we pulled into the driveway, I noticed an incredibly old, red Chevy pickup truck next to us. I rolled my eyes. It was all rusty and more than likely suited whatever type of bum mom's been allowing to take up residence in our home.

When she set the car in park, I reached for my seatbelt but her hand stopped me. I couldn't help but notice she had finally discarded her wedding band. "Clare, I know you have been going through some tough times lately but the world does not revolve around you. The people inside are very close friends of mine and I'd appreciate it if you would treat them with respect."

She released my hand. Right before we got out of the car however, she glanced back at me with another face of distaste. "Take off that ratty thing. I will not be presenting my daughter as some 'biker whore.'

I looked down and realized I was wearing Eli's old leather jacket he had given to me one particularly cold early summer night. His scent had long washed off and had been replaced by my vanilla lotion and floral _Secret_ brand deodorant combination.

I shrugged it off and slung it over my shoulder. "Better?" I smirked.

She frowned. "I guess it'll do." She let herself inside as I reminisced the night I had given Eli my promise ring and all that it entails…I was so wrapped up in the memory of how he'd given me his only _real_ leather jacket soon after; that I didn't watch where I was going and ran smack into a wall of muscle.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sor-"

"Oops, my bad. I wasn't look-"

I met a pair of solid chestnut eyes that seemed vaguely familiar and both our weak apologies dissolved…

**Thank you so much for reading! I'm working on the next chapter right now! Please give me some feedback.**


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